Or, how to create the perfect post.This is an FAQ post which goes in a pair with our soon-to-be-updated userinfo. Even if you've made posts to either version of scans_daily before, take a moment to read it, because these are part of our new posting guidelines. And stay tuned for another modpost, in, well, as fast as I can write it.

Make sure that somebody else hasn’t already posted what you’re planning on posting. It is quite rude to post something that another poster has already got on the community. It splits discussion over different posts, making it difficult to follow. If you do this, the mods will comment with a picture of Bill Murray.

Step 2 - The format.

This is just a guideline, and not a rule. But it makes life so much easier for members seeking out scans of characters or comics they like or are interested in reading more about, so please included whatever information you can.

Title - Include comic title and issue number, if you know them.Body of message - Use a cut tag as required; some people are still on dial-up - yes, even in 2009. If you'd like to include page numbers, that'd be cool too.Tags - They take two seconds to add and will make your post much, much easier to find for interested parties. All users can add tags to a post. Be aware that if you add a tag that doesn’t exist, none of the tags will show up.

Step 3 – The scans.

The ideal size of scans is about 800-900 pixels wide. If scans are much larger than that, use thumbnails. If scans are much smaller than that, be prepared for people to say “I can’t read that.”

If you are using your own scanner, cropping the borders, other pages, or your hand off the image makes them look more professional. Taking photos of pages rarely produces good quality results.

Only direct link to images on your own web space. If you'd like to point out scans on someone else's webspace to the group, please use a text link. (Note that a text link does not count as a scan, and scans are required to post.) Imageshack is a good place to host pictures. If you are hosting on imageshack, make sure that you use their advanced hosting (at the very, very bottom of the page where you retrieve the code for your image) and insert that into an <img src = “”> tag.

Step 4 – The content.

Lots of scans without much commentary can be difficult to understand. Lots of text with a contractually obligated scan at the end is dull. Your post should strike a balance between the two. Explain what you’re posting. Say what’s going on, so that the reader understands a bit about what’s being shown. Say why you like it. These all help to make for interesting and thoughtful discussions on scans_daily.

Be prepared to justify your opinions, whether you think something is better than sliced bread (Ex Machina #1) or as pleasant as shaking hands with your dad’s proctologist (Batman: Fortunate Son). Yours is not the only opinion on scans_daily. Be prepared for disagreement and respond to it civilly.

NB. Keep off topic posts to a minimum. In this community, on topic means scans. Interviews, videos, fanart, essays, self-promotion, news and other miscellany are welcome, so long as they come in the context of a larger, scans-focused posts. Keep in mind that this is not a general comics discussion community - it's a scans community.

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I'm having trouble posting on IJ. I can't copy-paste images from my LJ, the "Insert Image" thing isn't working at all, and when I take the slow img src route, I can't adjust picture size. I don't like this.

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Sure. The "no text links!" guideline is more about asking people not to link to, say, comics previews on CBR or whatnot, because that's just lame. If it's a link to your own compilation of scans elsewhere, that's fine.